NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack men’s
soccer team was picked to finish fifth in the Northeast-10
conference, as voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.

The Warriors posted an 11-7-1 overall record and went 9-4 in the
conference last season. Head Coach Tony Martone’s squad
finished the 2009 campaign in fifth-place and fell to Southern
Connecticut State in the Northeast-10 quarterfinals, 2-1.

Robbie Sabadoz (Ottawa, Ont.), the reigning
Northeast-10 Player of the Year, will be a key offensive threat for
the Blue and Gold. Sabadoz has been Merrimack’s leading
scorer since his freshman season. The rising-junior tallied 19
markers in 2009 to tie a school record, which rank him second in
the Northeast-10 in goals and points.

Nick Lo Coco (Gloucester, Mass.) will serve as
a captain along with Sabadoz this season. The Warriors return a
solid core of veterans for the upcoming season. Merrimack will also
bring in a talented group of freshmen to supplement the team.

2010 Northeast-10 Preseason Poll

1. Southern New Hampshire (7) - 162

2. Franklin Pierce (2) - 153

3. Le Moyne (5) - 149

4. Southern Connecticut - 138

5. MERRIMACK- 120

6. Bentley - 88

7. Saint Anselm - 82

8. Assumption - 76

9. American Internationall - 74

10. UMass Lowell - 72

11. Saint Michael's - 61

12. Stonehill - 50

13. Saint Rose - 33

14. New Haven - 16

The Warriors open the season with a pair of home matches.
Merrimack will take on Post, September 2, to kick off the 2010
campaign. The Northeast-10 portion of the schedule gets going
September 18, as the Blue and Gold welcome Saint Rose to North
Andover.

Southern New Hampshire was selected as the preseason favorite,
receiving 162 total points, including seven first-place votes.
Franklin Pierce, which owned two first-place votes, was picked to
claim second-place in the conference. Le Moyne was predicted to
finish behind the Penmen and Ravens in third in the Northeast-10
this season, despite earning five votes to capture the top
spot.